1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a self-amplifying folded oligonucleotide structure for sensitive oligonucleotide sensing.
2. Related Art
The present invention relates to diagnostics. More particularly, the present invention relates to diagnostics based on DNA, RNA or PNA sensing.
The specific application includes HIV diagnosis. Early and accurate HIV diagnosis for infants in developing countries is a serious challenge for AIDS management. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the most common method for point of care HIV diagnosis, but it cannot distinguish between maternal and infant antibodies. Therefore, we need highly sensitive nucleic acid based assays such as real-time PCR and NASBA. But, the real-time PCR and NASBA are not applicable in resource limited settings.